MPs request Carillion liquidation update

Two government select committees have written to The Insolvency Service (TIS), requesting an update on the liquidation of Carillion and the amount owed to the Pension Protection Fund (PPF).

In December 2018, TIS said that it was “too early to tell how much will be paid to the PPF as a dividend, as this depends on the outcome of a number of future recoveries”.

It also said that the amount paid to the PPF depends on the level of creditor claims that are received and admitted in the relevant legal entity to which the PPF has a claim.

In the letter, dated 9 September 2019, the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee and the Work and Pensions Committee asked TIS official receiver, David Chapman, if he could provide an update on how much is expected to be paid to the PPF.

The committees also requested an update on what further recoveries had been made since December, and how many more they expect, after TIS said in its letter that a number of recoveries were still expected.

The committee chairs, Rachel Reeves and Frank Field, noted that PwC was appointed as special manager to assist Chapman, and queried the total cost of PwC fees in 2018 and to date in 2019, when its role as special manager will come to and end and how many PwC staff were working on the liquidation.

In its December letter, TIS noted that it expected PwC’s fees to total £44.2m in 2018 and said that it expected the cost of the liquidation to total £72m, compared to the National Audit Office’s estimate of around £148m.

The chairs asked TIS to confirm whether they still believed the process would cost £72m.

The letter concluded: “We would be grateful for an update on TIS’s investigation into the directors and former director of the company. In particular, when does TIS expect to complete its work?

“We would also welcome any other relevant updates on your work or the progress of investigation that you are able to provide to us.”